Almost two years later, the large majority of those jobs never saw the light of day. Even if they had come to fruition, they would just be a small part of the entire Michigan economy, says James Hohman, assistant director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

For example, the state of Michigan created 218,137 jobs in the second quarter of 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced last week. If all 21,592 of those projected jobs created in the solar industry had actually been created, they would amount to 10 percent of the jobs created in just one quarter in Michigan. (During the same period 200,177 other jobs disappeared from Michigan - part of the constant "job churn" characteristic of a dynamic economy like that of the U.S.)

But those 21,592 solar green job projections included “indirect jobs,” which means those jobs that are created outside the actual company — such as assuming a coffee shop will open across the street from a new plant.

“The political economic development has never accounted for much,” Hohman said.

For example, GlobalWatt was evicted from its Saginaw headquarters for nonpayment of rent. United Solar Evonics had paused construction of its Battle Creek project in 2009, according to its most recent annual SEC filing. Evergreen Solar filed for bankruptcy.

All these struggling solar companies were highlighted as success stories in 2010 under what DELEG called “Governor Granholm’s Leadership.”

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